


Games We Play

by Brachylagus_fandom



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-16
Updated: 2016-09-16
Packaged: 2018-08-13 23:59:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,174
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7991140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Brachylagus_fandom/pseuds/Brachylagus_fandom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Some lessons are best learned over a Pai Sho board.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Games We Play

**Author's Note:**

  * For [silveradept](https://archiveofourown.org/users/silveradept/gifts).



"Can I learn?" Zuko asked, eyes wide, after watching Iroh beat Lu Ten at Pai Sho. He was barely five at the time, and Lu Ten laughed as Iroh hoisted his nephew onto his lap so he could actually sit at the table.

"Well, nephew, Pai Sho is a very difficult game," Iroh said, "and I have spent years mastering it. These are your defense tiles. They come in four types: water, fire, air, and earth. Air trumps fire, water trumps air, earth trumps water, and fire trumps Earth. The purpose of the game is to capture all of your opponent's tiles. Do you understand?" Zuko nodded.

"One day, I'm going to be as good at this as you!" Zuko declared. Iroh chuckled.

"Well, then why don't you play against Lu Ten?" They didn't really get that much done that afternoon, but Zuko figured out the basics of Pai Sho strategy, Lu Ten learned to lose on purpose, and no fireballs were thrown, so Iroh considered it a success.

***

Iroh sighed as his nephew set up a direct attack onto the nearest fire tile instead of a more subtle path that would actually lead to victory. Patience was both the first hidden rule of this game and something Zuko severely lacked. "Nephew, you must learn subtlety," Iroh chastised as he calmly rebuffed his nephew's latest attempt at an attack. Zuko huffed in annoyance; lately, everything had been annoying him, which made sense considering that he had lost almost everything he had just a few short weeks ago. "The best offenses are never seen."

"But I don't want to be subtle!" Zuko yelled "I want to capture the Avatar! I want to go _home!"_ And that sentence made Iroh's heart break a little bit more every time his nephew made that utterly childish, utterly impossible wish.

"We must find and capture the Avatar," _who's most likely dead_ , Iroh held back with practiced ease, "for you to go home. And we will not beat the Avatar if he can see your attacks from a mile away."

"Fine," Zuko grumbled and picked up his pieces to try again. Iroh considered letting him win the next round, partly for his confidence and partly because the soldiers on this ship have never learned nor have any interest in learning "stupid lord's games."

***

Ba Sing Se was a calm place, especially considering that it was the last unconquered city in a kingdom torn apart by war. Iroh liked it here; he had spent his entire life with blood on his hands and plans to kill on his mind, and even the shaky peace here was more complete than anywhere else he had lived. If he could help it, his crazy niece was not going to destroy it.

"Did I ever tell you how I got the nickname 'the Dragon of the West'?" Iroh asked calmly. Azula rolled her eyes.

"I'm not interested in a lengthy anecdote, Uncle," she said. Internally, he grinned; she had never really bothered to learn the basic rules of  human interaction, always assuming others were either weaker than her in every way or willing to do her bidding. She never bothered to learn about others' skills, and it was about to end poorly for her.

"It's more of a demonstration, really," Iroh replied, and prepared to show Azula just how much she had underestimated him.

***

The fool's defense was one of Iroh's favorites; his brother and his advisors never understood the value of underestimation. Because of that, he was left alone even though the guards should have heard of his assorted achievements and realized that he was dangerous. He had spent most of his adult life hiding secrets and lying to almost everyone; one more deception was not much of an extra weight on his conscience. An eclipse was coming, and hopefully that would lead to the end of this war.

"Show me how to play again," Zuko demanded during one visit, bringing his old Pai Sho board and even being so considerate as to include the White Lotus tile. Iroh ignored him. His nephew visited regularly, a bit too often to not be sent here by Ozai; today's strategy was just a bit different. Some days, Iroh considered that the frequency of his visits might be an indication that Zuko had realized that he did not belong in this sea of ever-confusing court politics, that he learned just how much he depended on his uncle the hard way, but that line of thinking was quickly discarded; Zuko had made his choice, and that was that.

"Nephew, you have never understood Pai Sho," Iroh said, trying to make this simple truth scathing. His nephew had learned the rules by rote, of course, but he missed the subtleties of the game, the eddies and undercurrents that shifted across the playing field when masters took their turns. He moves in broad strokes, sweeping waves that are easy to see and easy to avoid; Iroh preferred small adjustments, little ripples that hid the monster underneath the surface. Zuko sighed.

"I know," he complained, and Iroh had never heard him sound more like the child he's barely grown out of since his face was marred than in that moment. "Teach me again, Uncle. Please." Iroh sighed and unfolded the board to find a thin strip of paper tucked into one of the tile recesses. Quickly slipping the message into his sleeve, Iroh set up the game and began to lecture his nephew yet again on the intricacies of Pai Sho. Many hours later, when the guards were ignoring him and Zuko had gone off to sulk with Mai, he unfolded the note to see what it contained, which turned out to only be one word written in Zuko's careful hand: _Sorry._

Iroh had no clue which part of the recent debacle Zuko was apologizing for (the betrayal? not going with him when they first saw Azula in Ba Sing Se? talking to Azula and forcing them to go on the run through Earth Country? getting them banished in the first place?), and let the paper crumble into ash in the palm of his hand. While Ozai had always been a showier firebender, he had precision, and with precision came a whole new host of options.

***

"What are you doing?" Toph asked, frowning at them but staring at the wall.

"We're playing Pai Sho," Iroh explained as Zuko carefully nudged one of his water tiles into a location that would not take his air tile but granted him a possible checkmate in eleven moves.

"It sounds boring," Toph said. Zuko grinned as Iroh moved his white lotus ever so slightly into the path of his move.

"It's supposed to teach the basics of group strategy and long-term planning; I think boring is the whole point."

"Then why do you play it?"

"Some things are best learned over a cup of tea and a board of Pai Sho," Iroh declared, and Zuko agreed as he won for the first time in years.


End file.
